Castle in the Clouds

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  3D picture created using assets from castle world to make a play full memory of children in a bath rather than outsourcing an image.

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  added a post board so players can also see who else has visted and like the images, more likely to leave a post and join the others and like

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  3D picture created using assets from castle world to make comedy picture rather than outsource images and make it more homely

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  3D picture created using assets from castle world to make wall art rather than outsourcing an image, used assets from MHCP library

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  Promoting our other worlds and also so players can easily find them rather than menu hopping.

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  the creators and a save world gizmo,(the save box is there), we also created a frame around the save box to blend in with the frames above

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  Photo opportunity area with the hosts of the castle, lots of players have been taking selfies here and posting, fun element/hang out area.

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  Castle is based on an actual "castle in the clouds" in usa and we added a short reference in the book

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  The adventure starts here and a exhilerating climb to the top to search for the way to the sacred sword. mind your step!!

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  Thumbnail of our world using for sharing links, promoting our world and other marketing purposes.

Inspiration

The inspiration for the castle came from a real historical mansion in the New England region of the US called Castle in the Clouds. We wanted to step back in time and let this captivating landmark ignite people's imagination and sense of adventure transporting everyone to a bygone era of grandeur and enchantment and leave with memories that will stay with them long after their visit. Castle in the Clouds

What it does

This world provides an exhilarating experience to any age. Embark on a thrilling mini-adventure to find the way to the sacred sword and immerse yourself in a captivating, enchanting journey like no other! You will be transported into a visually stunning environment where the extraordinary becomes reality. A place to connect with friends or meet new people and celebrate the power of imagination and camaraderie.

How we built it

We came up with the theme, discussed the high-level design concepts and what we would like the final outcome to be, and started the design process. During the design process we prioritized the work as the world was going to be placed "way above ground" and included several levels. For phase one, careful consideration had to be made on how we were going to create the feeling of going up into the clouds. We played around with various sized assets and manipulated them to create a realistic feeling of high altitude. For phase two, we worked on the mapping of the project level by level until we were satisfied as to the proportions and overall look and feeling of it. Phase three consisted of gathering assets to include in the building structure and to use as decorations. All the wall art was hand created using objects from MHCP assets to make wall art rather than outsourcing an image, and to create a unique affect in our world. In phase four we included gizmos, lights, movement, interaction elements, rotating clouds and added a skybox. Phase five was adding sound, such as wind blowing to give the effect of high altitude, also included basic scripts and fire. And phase six was a quality control phase where we checked for bugs and other building defects that needed fixing. As per example of creating tools we used for the project, we used Meta Ai, img.Upscaler, Blender, cloudconvert, and various other online tools.

Challenges we ran into

Because very limited assets were provided to us by Meta to create this world in Trimesh, we had to rely on researching and learning new ways to create and import elements that we had in mind and suitable for this world. We used external sources such as Meta Ai, img.Upscaler, file converter software etc. Blender was a whole new challenge for us and we had a huge learning curve. Another challenge were some glitches we experienced during building. Some sounds and music were not working when placed, and there were several times when we were constantly kicked out of build mode due to low memory issues. Originally, the background music that was suitable for the world and its environment was working, but suddenly stopped working and is no longer working. We checked with the community and it seems to also be an issue with others building in trimesh.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Building an amazing world using tools that we never used before (our first trimesh project). Seeing the reaction of visitors climbing the stair case screaming "this is amazing" has been very rewarding because we worked very hard trying to create a feeling of excitement and anticipation. Getting to the top its certainly challenging! We loved the "Castle in the Clouds" so much that we created and published a Christmas version of it.

What we learned

We had to learn to cooperate with each other, make compromises, and be patient. We learned that we can manipulate objects in a different way that we were thinking before and come up with really creative and unique elements. We learned that working as a team brings new perspective and fresh ideas and we piggyback from each other, coming up with fantastic outcomes. Also, using trimesh made us research more to find out how programs work, what software is available, and what type of environments we can create in the future. It has been a steep learning curve but a very rewarding one.

What's next for Castle in the Clouds

Our next steps will be importing our own background music, creating more complex scripts, and using npc to add more interactive elements. We would like to create other unique elements that we can use to lead players into our other worlds continuing with the same skeleton theme.

Built With

• blender
• canva
• cloudconvert
• img.upscaler
• metaio
• placit